CCCT 2012 - May 31st

Cross Canada Cycling Tour - Thursday, May 31st
Day 12 - Greenwood to Christina Lake, BC. Trip 74.65 kms Time 4 hrs 22 mins Max 55.9 kph

This picture needs no explanation!!!

The Bakery in Greenwood with a cool 55 Chevy out front

I woke up at 2:30 AM and suddenly realized that I hadn't turned off my GPS and plugged it in to charge it before going to bed last night. I got up to go to the bathroom and turned off my GPS and plugged it in. When I went back to bed it was raining steadily. I thought, let it rain, as long as it stops before we set off in the morning. We were up at 6:00 AM and since we didn't have anything for breakfast decided to cycle into town to the bakery for our breakfast. I had hot chocolate and ham and scrambled eggs on a toasted Kaiser bun. Bev had the same. We also got a rather large cinnamon/pecan/honey glazed bun to go. Bev put it in her handle bar bag. We cycled back to the motel and finished packing, loaded our gear on our bikes and set off at 8:00 AM for Grand Forks. We hadn't gone very far before Bev wanted to stop. Without asking she got the cinnamon bun out and started eating. It was still warm from the oven and the smell of it was driving her crazy!!! Very unlike Bev to just have finished eating breakfast and to want to have something else to eat so soon afterwards.
It took us 1 hour and 20 minutes to reach the EHOLT summit at 1033m or to cycle 15 kms. Afterwards it was a steady decent all the way into GRAND FORKS. I took the time to mount my camera on my handle bars using my Gorilla Pod and shot a video part way of our decent. We arrived in G. F. at 11:00 AM and stopped at the Visitor's Centre to ask about the route and what sort of facilities we could expect on the next climb. We were told that the PAULSON summit was a very difficult climb and that we could get a ride to the summit from Bob who ran a company called Wild Ways in Christina Lake. We called Bob and he said he would drive us up to the summit for $50. We both agreed that this was a rather good deal and would definitely be better than killing ourselves trying to cycle up the 1535m Paulson Pass.
When we came out of the Visitor's Centre we met Pascal from Montreal who was also cycling as far as Montreal and possibly on to Newfoundland. He was on his own and mainly staying at camp sites. He asked about our cycling experiences so far and was amazed that we had managed to cycle up the Anarchist Pass. We had a picnic lunch before setting off for Christina Lake where we would contact Bob at his shop there.
We arrived in C.L. at 2:00 PM and rather than go up to the summit so late in the afternoon decided to spend the night in C.L. Bob offered to do any necessary "maintenance" on our bikes. Since I was still having trouble with my rear derailleur I asked him to check it out. I also needed to replace my rear tire as I was very uncomfortable riding on my skinny spare tire which had a small split in the side wall.
We went off to check in to a motel just around the corner that Bob had recommended which was a bit more expensive than I preferred at $74. I managed to talk him down from $84 I think. We quickly unloaded our panniers and stored them in our room. It was a very nice room with full kitchen facilities. We then cycled back to Wild Ways and Bob took my bike down to the basement workshop to work on it. He put it up on a bike stand and spun the front wheel. He informed me that my front hub also needed attention as he could feel a rumbling coming from it. When I put my hand on the frame of my bike I to could feel a slight rumbling. So now it was the rear derailleur, front hub, rear tire and a cleaning of the chain. By the time this trip is over I'm going to have a fully rebuilt bike.
Bev and I left my bike in the capable hands of Bob and went off to do some grocery shopping. We walked for 15-20 minutes to the nearest grocery store, bought some food for our supper and for breakfast, etc. It was now time to go for a cold beer. It was pouring rain!!! A lady, standing in line behind us, at the check out counter offered to give us a lift. Like an idiot I said we were just going up the road a bit to the pub for a beer and it wasn't really necessary to give us a lift. We got thoroughly soaked!!! Oh well, all the more reason to have a second beer while we dried off and waited for the rain to let up.
Eventually the rain stopped, the sun came out, and so we walked back to the bike shop. My bike was ready. It only cost $143.25 for the repairs and a new tire and tube. Bob agreed to pick us up after lunch tomorrow and take us up to the Paulson Summit. We would have preferred earlier in the day but he had a couple of meetings to go to.
I cycled back to the motel while Bev walked. On the way she stopped at the corner ice cream stand and got some ice cream to go with the strawberry/rhubarb pie which she had bought earlier at the bakery shop across from the bike shop. Once back in our motel room I helped Bev prepare dinner. We had pork chops done up in fried onions with mushroom soup and mashed potatoes and, of course, you already know what we had for dessert.
After cleaning up I worked on my blog. My notebook froze when I tried to add a photo. Lost everything!!! I was not a happy camper. To frustrated to start over. Watched TV until 11 PM and then was off to bed.
Bev and Roly

Could have used some of this "Singer" power while going up the hills

Posted in Sparwood, BC on Friday, June 8th, from the Causeway Bay Hotel